Are you a Freelancer? Here are 25 Fastest Growing Freelance Skills of 2016

People are finally waking up to the fact that freelancing is a better option than fighting the daily 9-to-5 rat race. The flexibility, independence and opportunity to make more money are just a couple of reasons why people are opting to become freelancers. But if you’re uncertain which freelancing career path to chose, here are 25 of the fastest growing freelance skills based on information from Upwork, CNBC and Business News Daily.

1. User experience design

Nowadays, website and app users expect to be impressed whenever they visit a website or download an app. UX designers achieve these by creating products that are easy-to-use and enhance the visitor’s experience.

2. ASP development

Companies are searching for these types of web developers who can edit, change or customize web pages using the old school Active Server Pages since it runs parallel with HTML5. Other responsibilities include responding to questions on forums, providing security and accessing databases.

5. SEO/Content writing

6. Photography

Sure — everyone has a camera on their phones. And even though the demand for photographers in traditional media has declined, there’s still a high-demand for commercial and portrait photographers. In fact, there’s been a 37.2 percent increase since 2014.

7. Animation

These creative individuals draw illustrations for games, films, television shows and commercials. The digital marketplace is driving the demand for animators who can draw icons or infographics for brands.

12. Video editing

Video editors look for errors, add audio or graphics, and make sure that a story matches the overall storyline. With more brands wanting to develop content, especially video content, it’s no surprise that this is a booming industry.

13. WordPress development

14. AngularJS development

With this skill you can extend HTML vocabulary so that you can build mobile and desktop web applications. Because this is the framework for dynamic web apps, expect the demand for this skill to increase. Here is our programmer guide for better understanding

15. Java development

These developers create complex web-based applications, like animated drop-down menus. Despite over 20 years old, Java is the basis for many open-source projects, so the demand for this skill shouldn’t be slowing down anytime soon.

16. Voice talent

“While voiceover work has been around for decades, the move to digital is enabling talent to record from virtually anywhere, notes CNBC. “Telephony, audiobook readers, dubbing work, e-learning instruction, animation dialogue and video game voices are just some of the jobs calling for voice actors.”

22. MongoDB

This is an open-source cross-platform document-oriented database that’s classified as a NoSQL database. Adobe, eBay, LinkedIn, Foursquare and Shutterfly are tracked by MongoDB, so this skill isn’t going to become irrelevant anytime soon.